Deciduous Trees and Evergreen Trees

Deciduous trees lose their leaves every winter, rather than maintaining green foliage throughout the year like evergreens do. Often, the trees provide a radiant show of fall color before they lose their leaves. There are a number of reasons for leaf loss, but essentially, it happens to conserve energy over the winter and prevent damage to the tree. In the spring, the tree puts out new leaves so that the process can start again.

Evergreen trees are trees which retain their foliage year-round, rather than losing their leaves annually like deciduous trees do. There are a number of different types of evergreen trees; many tropical trees are evergreens, and evergreens are also very common in temperate climates.From the tree's perspective, being evergreen requires less work. Deciduous trees require a lot of energy and nutrients in the spring, when they put out new leaves. Evergreen trees, on the other hand, conserve energy and nutrients by slowly growing new foliage year-round, which can be an advantage in regions where nutrients are tight, as an evergreen can endure a rough season.